The 1998 Human Development Report debunks myths about poverty and environmental problems in
the developing world.

In the November 1998 issue of Share International we published an article
from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) entitled ‘Runaway consumption widens gap between rich and
poor’, which discusses the 1998 Human Development Report. The Report — by a team of independent experts —
as well as advocating major changes in policies, institutions and values, and "a big sense of collective
responsibility" debunks five myths related to tackling poverty and environmental problems in developing
countries.

Myth number 1: Subsidies on energy, water and other natural
resources benefit poor people.

The poor are often unserved by these connections and the subsidies therefore often
facilitate the waste of these resources by the rich.

The report urges an end to perverse subsidies in agriculture, energy, water and road
transport totaling US$700-$900 thousand million a year.

"Every year, the world spends a fortune subsidizing its own destruction,"
says Richard Jolly, principal co-ordinator of the report. "Cutting perverse subsidies could reduce taxes,
strengthen incentives for conservation and free up resources for investing in environment-boosting technologies.
Both rich and poor could benefit."

Myth number 2: Poor people cannot contribute to the costs of
basic resources.

Most poor families already pay for the basics, and in addition are often willing to
contribute time to improving community water and sanitation systems.

Myth number 3: Developing countries should imitate what
industrialized countries have done.

While there is much to learn from the experiences of industrialized countries in
dealing with the environment, there is also an opportunity to avoid mistakes, adopt new technologies and minimize
the cost of solutions.

Developing countries can ‘leapfrog’ the pitfalls of Western-style growth by
turning to abundant clean energy sources, less energy-intensive crop production, and cleaner manufacturing processes
that avoid the huge costs of environmental clean-up that many countries are now incurring.

Myth number 4: Developing countries should restrain consumption,
industrialization and development to avoid exacerbating environmental problems.

In most developing countries, consumption is still so low that it must be increased,
using emerging technologies, shifts in natural resource use, and innovative policies to avoid adverse environmental
impacts.

"Poor people and poor countries need to accelerate the growth of their
consumption," says James Gustave Speth, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. "But
they need not follow the path trodden by the rich and high-growth economies. Production techniques can be made more
environmentally friendly, and environmental damage can be reversed. The need is not so much for more consumption or
for less, but for a different pattern of consumption — consumption for human development."

"The need is not so much for more consumption or for less, but for a
different pattern of consumption - consumption for human development."

Myth number 5. The scope for alternative anti-pollution policies
is limited in developing countries.

There are many policy options for developing countries to ensure clean air, through
various incentives, taxes and legislation.

The report identifies actions already taken in some poor countries to adopt cheap,
effective, and politically less contentious anti-pollution policies, initiatives that its authors say have dispelled
the myth that such possibilities are limited.

A significant number of countries are managing to improve human consumption patterns
and protect the environment. The report points to: Singapore, which has combined congestion taxes on automobiles
with improved public transportation; Chile, which has improved air quality in Santiago with an effective combination
of regulation, traffic management and monitoring; and Egypt, which has reduced the hazards of solid waste disposal
in Alexandria by converting high-risk solids to organic fertilizer.